A river was a thousand cuts

In 2007, the Ministry of Industry of the Ha Giang province (North of Vietnam) made an agreement with the Bitexco group to build a dam that would block the water of the Nho Que river to make a reservoir.

The construction of the dam caused the water level to rise up to twenty-five meters submerging agricultural lands while fish and shrimps were no longer available as the river doesn’t flow anymore. Even though the indigenous got compensation for the displacement, they found themselves living hard as they were deprived of productive land and traditional forms of livelihood.

In Vietnam, "Tourist spots" often face ecological destruction because of capitalist intervention or pure negligence by the state.